Perdita Sinclair Brighton Exhibition Nøkken Opens at Phoenix Art Space
Perdita Sinclair Brighton fans have a new date for the diary. The artist’s solo exhibition, Nøkken, opens at Phoenix Art Space’s Window Gallery on 4 September, with a preview evening running from 6pm to 8pm. The show then continues daily from Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 5pm, until 26 September.
Named after the Old Norse word for seahorse — nokk — and the shape-shifting Scandinavian water spirit Nøkken, the exhibition draws together folklore, conservation and Sinclair’s own background as a therapist. Her paintings return again and again to memory, identity and place, filtered through the recurring image of the seahorse.
The Story Behind Nøkken
Sinclair’s paired seahorse motifs take inspiration from two very different sources: the shape-shifting creatures found in Theodor Kittelsen’s paintings, and the hippocampus — the part of the brain responsible for memory and identity. Read together, the pairs of seahorses are said to echo the dual-faced Roman god Janus, a fitting symbol for work concerned with transformation and the fluidity of identity.
That layering of meaning extends to how the seahorses are painted. Sinclair often hides them within the wider artwork, elusive rather than immediately visible — a choice that feels pointed in a show built around a species that’s easy to overlook, and images that are easy to scroll past.
A Collaboration with The Seahorse Trust
Nøkken has been created in collaboration with The Seahorse Trust, and the partnership goes beyond the thematic. Fifteen per cent of all exhibition sales will be donated to support seahorse conservation and the protection of marine habitats, giving the show’s environmental message a direct, practical outcome.
Perdita Sinclair Brighton Exhibition Details
Nøkken runs at Phoenix Art Space’s Window Gallery from 4 to 26 September, with an opening preview on 4 September from 6pm to 8pm. Regular viewing hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 5pm.
For more of Sinclair’s work, visit her website, and for further details on the show, see the Phoenix Art Space listing.
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